diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index 20eacfb..ae467fd 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -684,8 +684,11 @@ better" reads naturally. Playing more costs you the tie-break at worst, never th
   level that WON the cup, not the one you walk on with. Mirrored server-side like `cups`.
 - A promotion posts itself (`main.postCup`): no name prompt in the way, no personal-best gate.
 - The same number is the INSCRIPTION under each earned shield on the card (`AT 14`) — where a
-  figure set once in a career belongs. Earned shields smoulder now: five CSS embers each, random
-  lane and delay, no game loop involved.
+  figure set once in a career belongs. An earned shield CATCHES THE LIGHT: three points on it, dark
+  for most of a long cycle and flaring for a fraction of it, on delays and durations that share no
+  common multiple. It was a chimney of rising embers first — Oliver: "nicht brennen sondern manchmal
+  random schimmern", and he was right, a trophy does not burn. Pure CSS either way: the menus park
+  the game loop and this has no business waking it.
 
 The card also stopped repeating the ledger (it carries the CAREER: league, cups won, best cup) and
 its crest moved beside the league line instead of pushing it down.
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 79bf06e..f3b7a95 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -373,17 +373,16 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
                      align-items: center; gap: 4px; }
   /* ...and an earned shield SMOULDERS: two-pixel embers drifting off it, each on its own delay and
      lane (main.embers). Pure CSS — the menu parks the game loop and this has no business waking it. */
-  /* they lift off the shield's TOP EDGE into the dark above it — at the old bottom:22px the whole
-     flight happened ACROSS the artwork, where a 3px gold speck is invisible (Oliver saw nothing) */
-  #cdBadges .badge em { position: absolute; bottom: 52px; width: 3px; height: 3px; background: #fff2c9;
-                     box-shadow: 0 0 6px 2px rgba(232,178,58,0.75);
-                     opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; animation-name: ember;
-                     animation-timing-function: linear; animation-iteration-count: infinite; }
-  @keyframes ember {
-    0%   { transform: translate(0, 6px) scale(0.6); opacity: 0; }
-    20%  { opacity: 1; }
-    60%  { transform: translate(3px, -10px) scale(1); opacity: 0.75; }
-    100% { transform: translate(-2px, -32px) scale(0.35); opacity: 0; } }
+  /* ...and it CATCHES THE LIGHT: three points on the shield, dark for most of a long cycle and
+     flaring for a fraction of it (main.glints). Not a fire — a glint, the way metal behaves. */
+  #cdBadges .badge em { position: absolute; width: 4px; height: 4px; border-radius: 50%;
+                     background: #fff6dc; box-shadow: 0 0 7px 2px rgba(255,231,170,0.9);
+                     opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; animation-name: glint;
+                     animation-timing-function: ease-out; animation-iteration-count: infinite; }
+  @keyframes glint {
+    0%, 88%, 100% { opacity: 0; transform: scale(0.3); }
+    92%           { opacity: 1; transform: scale(1); }
+    96%           { opacity: 0.35; transform: scale(0.6); } }
   @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) { #cdBadges .badge em { display: none; } }
   #cdBadges img { height: 46px; image-rendering: pixelated; }
   #cdBadges .badge u { font: 700 7px Silkscreen, monospace; color: var(--acid); letter-spacing: 0.5px;
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index 8579c8c..dc2e57f 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -598,16 +598,16 @@ const countUp = (write, target, dur = 700) => {
     if (p < 1) cardTimers.push(setTimeout(tick, 30));
   })();
 };
-// EMBERS off an earned shield (2026-08-31, Oliver: "particles die random nach oben wegfliegen, wie
-// leichtes feuer"). CSS keyframes, not a loop: the menu deliberately parks the game loop, and six
-// two-pixel sparks per badge have no business waking it. The randomness is baked into each spark's
-// own delay, duration and lane at build time, so no two shields burn in step.
-const embers = won => !won ? '' : Array.from({ length: 7 }, () =>
-  `<em style="left:${(16 + Math.random() * 58).toFixed(0)}%;` +
-  // a SHORT delay window: spread over 2.6s the shield was empty half the time, which is why the
-  // first cut read as nothing happening at all
-  `animation-delay:${(Math.random() * 1.7).toFixed(2)}s;` +
-  `animation-duration:${(1.7 + Math.random() * 1.1).toFixed(2)}s"></em>`).join('');
+// A SHIELD CATCHES THE LIGHT (2026-08-31, Oliver: not burning — "manchmal random schimmern").
+// The first cut was a chimney of embers, which read as a fire on a trophy. This is the opposite:
+// three points ON the shield, each dark for most of a long cycle and flaring for a fraction of it,
+// on delays and durations that share no common multiple — so a glint lands somewhere on the row
+// every couple of seconds and never twice in the same rhythm. CSS keyframes, no game loop.
+const glints = won => !won ? '' : Array.from({ length: 3 }, () =>
+  `<em style="left:${(18 + Math.random() * 60).toFixed(0)}%;` +
+  `top:${(12 + Math.random() * 52).toFixed(0)}%;` +
+  `animation-delay:${(Math.random() * 9).toFixed(2)}s;` +
+  `animation-duration:${(6 + Math.random() * 5).toFixed(2)}s"></em>`).join('');
 
 function buildCard() {
   for (const t of cardTimers) clearTimeout(t);
@@ -652,13 +652,13 @@ function buildCard() {
     // figure set once and never again belongs.
     // an unearned slot says nothing: the shield's own art already says which league it is
     cell.innerHTML = `<img src="assets/badge_l${l.id}.png?v=${SPRV}" alt="" title="${l.name}">`
-      + `<u>${won ? (at ? 'AT ' + at : 'WON') : '—'}</u>` + embers(won);
+      + `<u>${won ? (at ? 'AT ' + at : 'WON') : '—'}</u>` + glints(won);
     row.appendChild(cell);
   }
   const champ = document.createElement('div');
   champ.className = 'badge' + (profile.prof.ch ? '' : ' dark');
   champ.innerHTML = `<img src="assets/badge_champ.png?v=${SPRV}" alt="" title="CHAMPION OF THE DEAD CLUB">`
-    + `<u>${profile.prof.ch ? 'CHAMPION' : '—'}</u>` + embers(profile.prof.ch);
+    + `<u>${profile.prof.ch ? 'CHAMPION' : '—'}</u>` + glints(profile.prof.ch);
   row.appendChild(champ);
   const g = stats.read('all', undefined, stats.MODE_GORE),
         z = stats.read('all', undefined, stats.MODE_MATCH),